The Diverse Families bookshelf was created and funded through numerous grants. Due to lack of additional grants and the loss of key personnel, the project has come to an end. We have tremendously enjoyed creating this database and hope that it can help bring readers and books together.
This collection contains materials from the DIVerse Families bibliography organized by genre.
DIVerse Families is a comprehensive bibliography that demonstrates the growing diversity of families in the United States. This type of bibliography provides teachers, librarians, counselors, adoption agencies, children/young adults, and especially parents and grandparents needing to empower their children with materials that reflect their families.
Browse by Genre:
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Where the Heart Is
Jo Knowles
It’s the first day of summer and Rachel's thirteenth birthday. She can't wait to head to the lake with her best friend, Micah. But as summer unfolds, every day seems to get more complicated. Her “fun” new job taking care of the neighbors’ farm animals quickly becomes a challenge, whether she’s being pecked by chickens or having to dodge a charging pig at feeding time. At home, her parents are more worried about money than usual, and their arguments over bills intensify. Fortunately, Rachel can count on Micah to help her cope with all the stress. But Micah seems to want their relationship to go beyond friendship, and though Rachel almost wishes for that, too, she can’t force herself to feel “that way” about him. In fact, she isn’t sure she can feel that way about any boy — or what that means. With all the heart of her award-winning novel See You At Harry's, Jo Knowles brings us the story of a girl who must discover where her heart is and what that means for her future.
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Where the Watermelons Grow
Cindy Baldwin
Twelve-year-old Della Kelly of Maryville, North Carolina, tries to come to terms with her mother's mental illness while her father struggles to save the farm from a record-breaking drought.
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While You Were Sleeping
Stephanie Burks
Describes two women's excitement when they learn that their new baby is born.
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White Oleander
Janet Fitch
When Ingrid, a brilliant but obsessed poet, is sent to prison for murder, her only child Astrid must find a place for herself as she journeys through a series of foster homes. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become.
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White Rabbit
Caleb Roehrig
Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian―the guy who stomped his heart out like a spent cigarette. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to "talk." Things couldn’t get worse, right? Then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. He and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney. April swears she didn’t kill Fox. Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth, but April has something he needs. Her price is his help. Now, with no one to trust but the boy he wants to hate yet can’t stop loving, Rufus has one night to clear his sister’s name . . . or die trying.
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Whitewash
Ntozake Shange
A young African-American girl is traumatized when a gang attacks her and her brother on their way home from school and spray-paints her face white. Based on a true story.
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Whoa Baby, Whoa!
Grace Nichols
A baby finally finds something to do that does not make everyone in the family tell him "No."
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Who Belongs Here? An American Story
Margy Burns Knight
Describes the new life of Nary, a Cambodian refugee, in America, as well as his encounters with prejudice. Includes some general history of U.S. immigration.
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Who Do I Look Like?
Mary Schulte
A young girl finds that she looks a little like everyone in her family, but mostly like herself.
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Whoever You Are
Mem Fox
Despite the differences between people around the world, there are similarities that join us together, such as pain, joy, and love.
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Who's In My Family?: All About Our Families
Robie H. Harris
Nellie and her little brother Gus discuss all kinds of families during a day at the zoo and dinner at home with their relatives afterwards.
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Why Am I Different?
Norma Simon
Portrays everyday situations in which children see themselves as "different" in family life, preferences, and aptitudes, and yet feel that being different is all right.
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Why Don't I Have a Daddy? A Story of Donor Conception
George Anne Clay
As the little lion cub notices all different types of families, he starts to question his own family. His family consists of his mother and him. The little cub learns that while there is no "daddy" in his family, there is a donor lion who made his life possible. Through his mother's love and nurturing, the lion cub understands how special he and his family are.
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Why Johnny Doesn't Flap: NT is OK!
Clay Morton and Gail Morton
Johnny is different. He is never exactly on time, he can't seem to stick to a routine and he often speaks in cryptic idioms. Johnny is neurotypical, but that's OK.
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Wide Awake
David Levithan
In the not-too-distant future, when a gay Jewish man is elected president of the United States, sixteen-year-old Duncan examines his feelings for his boyfriend, his political and religious beliefs, and tries to determine his rightful place in the world.
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Wild Blues
Beth Kephart
Thirteen-year-old Lizzie relates, through a victim statement, her harrowing journey through the Adirondacks seeking her disabled friend, Matias, who was kidnapped by escaped convicts.
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Wild Life
Cynthia C. DeFelice
When twelve-year-old Eric's parents are deployed to Iraq, he goes to live with grandparents he hardly knows in a small town in North Dakota, but his grandfather's hostility and the threat of losing the dog he has rescued are too much and Eric runs away.
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Will
Maria Boyd
Seventeen-year-old Will's behavior has been getting him in trouble at his all-boys school in Sydney, Australia, but his latest punishment, playing in the band for a musical production, gives him new insights into his fellow students and helps him cope with an incident he has tried to forget.
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Will Grayson, Will Grayson
David Levithan and John Green
When two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both.
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William's Doll
Charlotte Zolotow
More than anything, William wants a doll. He enjoys the other toys his father gives him, like a basketball and a train set, but he still wants a doll. William's grandmother is the only one who really understands his wish.
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Willow and the Wedding
Denise Brennan-Nelson
Bullied as a gay teenager, especially while performing in a high school musical, Uncle Ash, who is marrying his boyfriend, refuses to dance at his wedding, but flower girl Willow is determined to change her favorite uncle's mind.
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Willow King
Chris Platt
Thirteen-year-old Katie, who is herself physically challenged, saves a crippled foal from euthanasia and nurses him back to health and eventual championships.
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Willow King: Race the Wind
Chris Platt
Determined to ride her horse in the Kentucky Derby despite her physical handicap, Katie overcomes great obstacles and even helps a blind girl face her own kind of challenge.
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Wired Man and Other Freaks of Nature
Sashi Kaufman
Ben has to wear hearing aids, but being inseparable from the super-popular Tyler allows him to think of himself as normal. But Tyler blows him off senior year and Ben needs to rethink who he is--and who Tyler is.
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Wishing for Kittens
Ursula Ferro
Tanny the cat was old enough to be a mother. Rachel (seven-and-a-half years old) asked her moms, "Couldn't we let Tanny have kittens just once?" What would the family do if they had a house full of too many kittens?